BRTA has long called for a local rail reopening/new-build to modern railway standards of a rail link between Horsham and Guildford via Cranleigh. This would cut end-to-end journey times to about 30 minutes maximum journey time each way and boost the local economies of all three locations.
BRTA notes that development is going in incrementally across the areas the rail link would serve and without the rail link, it only adds more traffic to local roads and land used for more parking when such land could serve a diversity of other uses including employment, housing and open countryside.
BRTA calls on local councils, agencies and indeed, central government to:
- protect the railway corridor and slew adjacent other uses alongside with a perimeter fance
- invest in studying the rail link proposal and build the business an dother case for the rail link to meet criteria for central and agency funding requirements
- get it rebuilt within a 10-year time frame.
BRTA CEO Richard Pill said "BRTA believes enormous and beneficial potential could be unlocked if this local railway is rebuilt to a modern railway standrad. Time is running out for such a scheme as land becomes used for other projects. Getting the local rail infrastructure restored is vital to balance people, places and the environment and ensure social, economic and environmental considerations are more balanced for quality of life interests not pure exploitation of land for profit regardless of consequences. Councils and agencies need to give more priority to this and work together to take it forward."
BRTA will be holding meetings in the area in future and people are directed to its website for more information: https://brtarail.com/events/